VILLANOVA, Pa. – A week ago, Villanova’s NCAA tournament chances seemed slim, at best.
The once-dominant Wildcats have missed out on March Madness in each of the last two seasons and seemed for certain headed to be outsiders again, barring an unlikely run in the Big East tournament.
Seven days later, though, after a good home win over Xavier and a very good home win over No. 9 St. John’s, the Wildcats have hope. There’s still more work to do, and Villanova was not mentioned in Brad Wachtel’s First Four Out or Next Four Out early this week.
Wachtel has four Big East teams in the field — St. John’s, UConn, Marquette and Creighton — and Xavier knocking on the door. Villanova? Still not quite in the picture, but Wednesday’s 73-71 victory over the Red Storm at the Pavilion at least has the Wildcats back in the conversation.
So, how have they gotten to this point? And what do the Wildcats need to do to secure a bid?
On the first question, the recent play of 6-foot-5 senior guard Wooga Poplar and 6-foot-4 sophomore guard Tyler Perkins has been the difference. Senior forward Eric Dixon has been sensational all season. The nation’s leading scorer through Wednesday’s games, at 23.5 points per contest, Dixon tallied a practically incomprehensible 22 points in the final 11:26 in Sunday’s 80-68 win over Xavier, finishing with 24 points after a slow start. He followed it up with 17 against the Red Storm, one of just seven times he’s been held under 20 this season. Still, Dixon has been Dixon in every game this season.
Poplar, the Philadelphia native who transferred from Miami, took some time to get comfortable in the Wildcats’ system. Now, he is playing some stellar basketball, averaging 20.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.8 steals over his last four games.
“He’s a gifted scorer,” Villanova coach Kyle Neptune said after the St. John’s win. “Crazy talent, with his speed, athleticism and shooting ability. He’s an extremely big-time talent. Really impressed with his game. To his credit, he’s done everything we’ve asked him to do and more, from his attitude, to his leadership, to him getting better offensively and defensively.”
The same can be said for Perkins, the talented sophomore transfer from Penn. He opened Villanova’s eyes when he had 22 points, making 3 of 5 from long range, and 6 rebounds in the Quakers’ 76-72 upset over Villanova at the Palestra on Nov. 13, 2023. But Perkins’ three-point shot, something the Wildcats were counting on, evaded the lefty sharpshooter for a long stretch earlier this season as he went 0 for 25 from beyond the arc over an eight-game stretch. Still, Neptune stuck with Perkins because he was impressed by his defense, rebounding and intangibles.
“We feel really comfortable when he’s out there,” Neptune said. “And even if he’s not making shots, he just does so much when he’s out there, just with his attitude, passion, intensity; he’s just an all-around great player for us.”
Still, Perkins’ value to the Wildcats — and Villanova’s success — rises when he’s knocking down shots. Villanova improved to 8-0 when Perkins reaches double-figures and his clutch, go-ahead three-pointer with nine seconds left propelled the Wildcats past Red Storm, the third team ranked in the top 10 they’ve defeated at their on-campus home this season after topping Cincinnati and Connecticut earlier.
St. John’s Rides Its Bruising Style To A Pivotal Win over Villanova
Rick Pitino said the Red Storm are “defying a lot of analytics with victories” after their takedown of the Wildcats
“I’m just more glad we got the win, honestly,” said Perkins, who made 8 of 10 three-pointers combined against Xavier and St. John’s. “It really doesn’t matter to me (who takes the winning shot). It feels good that we won, and that’s what matters.”
Perkins knocking down shots and Poplar scoring lessens the focus on Dixon, making the Wildcats’ star even more of a scoring threat. And they’ll need all three to be on top of their games to keep alive their NCAA at-large hopes with a pair of tough tests upcoming on Saturday at Providence and Tuesday at UConn.
It would be quite a turnaround for the Wildcats. Their 10 losses, including a baffling home defeat to Columbia, which had lost six of seven in the Ivy League entering weekend play, are now in the rear-view mirror. In fact, it’s those defeats, Neptune said, that might have helped the Wildcats get to where they are now. In all likelihood, Villanova needs to beat the Friars and the Huskies — neither of which will be easy — to keep their at-large hopes alive.
“If you don’t have certain struggles, maybe you don’t get to these points,” Neptune said. “Sometimes it makes you better. It alerts you to certain things. Sometimes guys need that. Even sometimes as a coach, you just need it. It is what it is. There’s no reason to look back.”
Pitino Bemoans Rebounding, Not Shooting
In Wednesday’s game at Villanova, the Wildcats seemed content to sit back and let St. John’s shoot the three — and for good reason. The Red Storm, playing as a top-10 team for the first time since Feb. 27, 1999, entered shooting less than 30 percent from the arc and continued their struggles, making 11 from long range on a season-high 37 attempts. That’s 10 more than the Red Storm attempted from 3-point land in any game this season.
“You gotta take them,” coach Rick Pitino said.
He didn’t bemoan the misses. Rather, a few missed rebounds in spite of St. John’s winning the battle of the boards 33-27, including 15 to 7 on the offensive glass, bothered the veteran coach. “That wasn’t the reason we lost,” he said of the three-point shooting. “We lost because we didn’t block out. Twice we didn’t block out, and it cost us the game.”
Defensively, Pitino felt the Red Storm could’ve guarded the ball better but mostly credited Villanova.
“This is one of the best shooting teams in the country, and we were unable to stop their outside shot,” Pitino said after the Wildcats made 46 percent (11 of 24) from long range. “I think it was more their offense than our defense.”
Around The Rim
- St. John’s Deivon Smith, a 6-foot senior guard, was not in uniform against Villanova and Pitino said afterward that Smith likely would remain out through the end of the regular season. The Utah transfer originally injured his shoulder in the first game against Villanova on Jan. 11. He missed a game, returned for one, sat out the next two and then played in three straight. He averaged just 4.2 points in those four games played after netting 10.8 per game in his first 16 when healthy. Pitino said Smith needs to rest in order to get healthy for the postseason.
- UConn coach Dan Hurley drew national headlines following the Huskies’ 70-66 victory at Creighton on Tuesday for responding to heckling Bluejays fans afterward by saying, “Two rings. Two rings. Two rings, Baldy.”
- Providence coach Kim English was ejected from Wednesday’s 91-82 home loss to Xavier. On the second technical that led to the ejection, English said he questioned what he thought should have been a traveling violation by saying, “Missed travel, made three. Missed travel, made three.”
- DePaul announced on Feb. 5 that 6-foot-2 junior guard Conor Enright would have season-ending shoulder surgery. The Drake transfer averaged 7.5 points, 6.2 assists and 3.3 rebounds in 23 games.
Upcoming Games to Watch
Creighton at St. John’s, 3 p.m., Sunday, FS1
St. John’s might just be able to hold on to its top-10 ranking with a home win in what could be a potential preview of a Big East Tournament final matchup.
Villanova at UConn, 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, FS1
Any chance of a Villanova earning an NCAA tournament at-large bid likely has to include beating UConn. But sweeping the two-game regular-season series from the two-time defending national champs will be far from easy.
UConn at St. John’s, Noon, Feb. 23, FOX
The Red Storm captured the first matchup 68-62 in Storrs earlier this month. All eyes will be on Madison Square Garden for this matinee rematch.
